A FORMER rock band manager has won a £14million divorce battle against her SAS major ex and millionaire mum who “hates” her.
Maria-Christina Copinger-Symes, 54, agreed to pay James Copinger-Symes £1.2million after they split in 2022.
But she discovered her wealthy parents secretly gifted their son-in-law around £27.6million following their divorce.
Maria-Christina, who managed Aussie rock band INXS, was locked in a three-way court fight with her ex-husband and mum Felicite Perez De La Sala.
She argued she should be handed around £14million of that cash after a ruling in 2024 overturned her own £1.2million payout to her ex.
But her mum and ex claimed the gift was “non-matrimonial” and would never have been made at all if the wife was able to share it.
Today, the case returned to court where three senior judges dismissed their appeals – paving the way for Maria-Christina to lay claim to a share of her mum’s huge cash gift.
The court heard Maria-Christina is the daughter of a branch of the Australian De La Sala shipping family, who are worth around £300million.
But she has been estranged from her parents for years and was even banned from her dad’s funeral in 2022.
Maria-Christina married British SAS major James in 1998 and had four children with him.
She managed INXS, led by tragic singer Michael Hutchence, before launching high-end candle company Lilou et Loic.
The original case last year heard she and her parents fell out following a row over ownership of a London property.
Her mum Felicite also wrote a letter branding her daughter’s fight over their fortune the “ultimate betrayal of the whole family”.
A judge said she and husband Bobby decided by late 2017 to “withdraw all financial and emotional support” for Maria-Christina.
By contrast, the court heard her ex-husband’s relationship with them was completely different and he had “subsumed her position as a member of the family”.
This relationship led to James being handed the £27.6million gift after his divorce.
But the judge said the divorce settlement should be overturned and reconsidered.
He found James must have known he was in line to get the gift before he signed the March 2022 divorce settlement with his ex-wife, and so was guilty of “non-disclosure”.
But his lawyer argued the family judge got it wrong and should not have opened the gate for Maria-Christina to tap into the money gifted to him by her mum.
Richard Todd KC said the judge had described the attitude of her mum, dad and three siblings towards her as being one of “hate”.
He added: “The wife expected the husband to be paid millions by her family. It was reasonable to infer that her expectation was that the husband would be paid in the tens of millions.
“The gift would not have happened if there was any danger of the wife being able to claim.
“We respectfully say that the court went into error in finding there was relevant non-disclosure…The gifts were non-matrimonial and she had no sharing claim in respect of it.”
Maria-Christina’s mum also asked for the ruling to be overturned as the payment was made on the “clear understanding” she should have “no claim to them”.
But in her ruling, Lady Justice Andrews said it was right that the divorce order be set aside and reconsidered in the light of the husband’s “non-disclosure” of the £27.6million gift.
